[SJAAboard] March7 2009 - Draft SJAA Board Meeting Minutes

Tue Mar 17 17:47:30 MDT 2009

This' my first crack at the minutes without my Mentor, Craig.  Please review and discuss.  I'll make changes as required.

Greg

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March 7 2009 - SJAA Board Meeting Minutes

- Greg Claytor

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Members present
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*-Robert Armstrong - Acting Treasurer

*-Greg Claytor - Acting Secretary

*-Lee Hoglan

*-Rich Neuschaefer - Vice President/Acting President

*-Rod Norden

*-Gordon Reade

*-Kevin Roberts

*-Mark Wagner

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Meeting Called to Order - Rich Neuschaefer

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Meeting called to order at or about 6:35pm

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February Meeting Minutes

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Rich made a motion to approve the February board meeting minutes.  The motion was seconded by Mark and approved by unanimous vote.  There were no abstentions or oppositions.

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Treasurer's report - Robert Armstrong

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Robert submitted and presented account summaries to the board.  (I don't have an electronic copy to insert or point to)

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General Meeting Programs - Dave Smith 

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Report by Dave via email.  (I don't have an electronic copy to insert or point to)

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Beginner's Astronomy Class - Mark Wagner

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Mark mentioned the class was lightly attended.  Discussion postulated that this was possibly due to the Cassini launch the same evening and a General Meeting speaker from NASA the following evening.  Greg mentioned that Paul Kohlmiller's presentation and talk on galaxies was excellent.  The discussion ended with the general thought to invite Paul back in several months to speak again.

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Observatory Fund- Robert Armstrong

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Robert suggested running an ad in the San Jose Mercury News newspaper publicly inviting donors to contact us with any objections should the club decide to re-divert the observatory funds into other club programs or projects since the club has no plan to acquire land or build an observatory in the foreseeable future.  Robert agreed to run the ad after being authorized to do so by Rich.

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School Star Party Program - Gordon Reade

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Gordon mentioned that weather and attendance have cooperated.  (Jim Van Nuland posts detailed summaries directly to the SJAA Board List on a regular basis, which may be viewed here: http://sjaa.net/pipermail/sjaaboard_sjaa.net/)

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Membership - Mark Wagner

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Mark mentioned that membership remains stable.

16 memberships expired without renewal end of February 2009

12 memberships paid for renewal during February 2009

287 total memberships

18 complimentary/honorary

269 paid memberships

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Loaner Program - Lee Hoglan

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Lee mentioned that the loaner program was fine and that two scopes were going out on loan tonight after the general meeting.

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Coverage for Upcoming Events

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Coverage for upcoming activities: See schedule

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Board of Director's Officer Elections

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President - Rich Neuschaefer

Mark made a motion to elect Rich as club President.  The motion was seconded by Kevin and approved by unanimous vote.  There were no abstentions or oppositions.

Vice President - Mark Wagner

Kevin made a motion to elect Mark as club Vice President.  The motion was seconded by Rod and approved by unanimous vote.  There were no abstentions or oppositions.

Secretary - Greg Claytor

Rich made a motion to elect Greg as club Secretary.  The motion was seconded by Rod and approved by unanimous vote.  There were no abstentions or oppositions.

Treasurer - Robert Armstrong

Rich made a motion to elect Robert as club Treasurer.  The motion was seconded by Mark and approved by unanimous vote.  There were no abstentions or oppositions.

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Gregory Award

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Rich made a motion to make Mark the recipient of the 2008/2009 Gregory Award.  The motion was seconded by Kevin and approved by unanimous vote.  There were no abstentions or oppositions.

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Houge Park/PRN - Mark Wagner

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Mark mentioned that Rudy Navarro was informed by city of San Jose Attorneys that they would not accept the club's request to be excused from testing the club's membership from tuberculosis testing.  

Mark explained that he mentioned to Rudy that it would be unreasonable to test every club member and impractical to check that members had been tested prior to being allowed to participate in club functions.  Mark mentioned that he'd craft a new letter to the city detailing the impractibility of the cities testing requirement, then Robert Armstrong volunteered to step in and deal directly with the city regarding this issue.

Mark pointed out that Rich needed to sign and return a Workman's Comp Waiver Form on behalf of the SJAA.  Rich was given the form.

Mark mentioned that he's arranged, with the city, for each club director to posses keys to Hogue Park.  Mark distributed city provided forms, which were filled out by each board member and returned to Mark for submission to the city.

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Auction - Mark Wagner 

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Mark leads this year's auction committee, which includes Lee Hoglan, Rod Norden and Kevin Roberts.   Mark mentioned that he will use Microsoft Excel and a laptop computer to track seller and buyer transactions at this year's action.  Rod volunteered to operate a second mirror laptop system so that transaction data can be validated.  Mark and the committee will report back to board any needs.  Kevin volunteered to coordinate auction publicity on behalf of the club.

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By-Law Changes - Initiated by Robert Armstrong

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Robert submitted changes to  Article 14: Official Newsletter of SJAA,  Section 2 , article 3, section 4 TERMS OF OFFICE,  Section 11. REASONABLE NOMINATION AND ELECTION PROCEDURES.  (I have no electronic copies to post or point to)  Robert stated that any By-Law changes must, by state law, be communicated.  He mentioned that being published in the club's Ephemeris newsletter fulfills that requirement.

Robert distributed hard copy text detailing changes he's advocating.  After some discussion concerning the pros and cons of Robert's suggestions, Rich asked that a committee be formed to review the proposed changes in more detail and report back to the board with recommendations.  The committee will consist of Robert, Rich, Mark and Rod .

Robert made a motion to have his amendments reviewed by the committee formed by Rich.  The motion was seconded by Mark and approved by unanimous vote.  There were no abstentions or oppositions.

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Rob Hawley Issues

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The initial discussion was to return Rob's Beginner Class material and erase it and any other of Rob's materials from the club's web server in an effort to end the conflict.  Greg countered that this would set a dangerous precedent.  That any disgruntled club member could now demand that  their contributions be given back back upon resignation from the club.  Greg pointed out that Rob developed the the Beginner Class materials he's now demanding be returned while he was Board Chairman, Club President and Beginner Class coordinator.  Greg asked if Rob had ever informed any board member that the material he developed for these SJAA Beginner classes did not belong to the club.  Rich, Robert and Lee, all veteran board members, said no.  Greg pointed out that the SJAA is a 503c Non-Profit whose charter is education and dependant on member contributions.  Greg then added that as club president and an officer of the board, Rob was well aware of this.

Greg made a motion to retain the club's right to keep and modify the Beginner Class material that was developed by Rob Hawley.  The motion was seconded by Kevin and approved by Robert, Greg, Rich, Rod, Gordon, Kevin and Mark.  Lee abstained.

Greg made a motion to remove material developed by Rob Hawley from the club's web site and archive it.  The motion was seconded by Kevin and approved by Robert, Greg, Rich, Rod, Gordon, Kevin and Mark.  Lee abstained.

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Meeting Adjourned

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Rich moved to adjourn the meeting.  The motion was seconded by Mark and approved by unanimous vote.  There were no abstentions or oppositions.  Meeting was adjourned at 7:55pm.

Note:  There will be NO board meeting the month of April 2009.  The next board meeting will be in May. 